Chair for hydrotherapeutic treatment



July 12, 196D L. HALTER 2,944,592

CHAIR FOR HYDROTHERAPEUTIC TREATMENT Filed Sept. 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet1 ./NVENTOR:

July 12, 1960 L. HALTER 2,944,592

CHAIR FORHYDROTHERAPEUTIC TREATMENT Filed Sept. 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet2 United States Patent The present invention relates to a chair forhydrotherapeutic treatments for patients, and particularlyfor underwatermassages.

Hydrotherapeutic treatments and particularly underwater massages inorder to be really successful usually require that the patients body'beplaced into different positionsv underneath the water surface. This istrue particularly if the massages are carried out by means of a jet ofwater under high pressure. The pressure of, such a jet is usually sohighthat, if it would hit the patients bodyoutside of the water it'wouldnot only cause insulferable pain but might also cause serious bodilyharm. The jet must therefore always be applied underwater which, inturn,usually requires that the person giving the treatment also be in thewater.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to pro-1.

vide a chair for hydrotherapeutic treatments and mas-i sages which 'isprovided with means for adjusting the distance between the surface ofthe seat of the chair and the surface of. the water in accordancewiththe ,size of the patient and also in accordance with the respectivemethod of treatment.

2,944,592 Patented July 12., 1960 Ice rest and the angular stringerswill always remain substantially the same.

The frame of the chair supporting the stringers is of a tubularconstruction, the pipes thereof being connected to form an equal-sidedtriangle at each side of the chair so as to give the chair greatsolidity. At its front side,

the frame has a stair step for permitting the patient to sit down on theseat strap more easily and particularly also for permitting the persongiving the treatment to rest his foot on this raised step to support thelegs of the patient during the treatment by placing his upper legunderneath the patients-legs. Since such treatment is often ratherpainful, such support, which forces the patient to keep his leg in acertain position, will be of a very great value.

Another feature of the invention, as already indicated consists intheprovision of a head rest on the chair. This head restisipivotablymounted and adjustable to various angular positions. It mayalso bepivoted to such an extent as to be entirely removed from thearea I ofthe patients body. The patient may lie on the strap A feature of theinvention for attaining this object consists in the provision of a seatfor the new chair which consists of a strap of fabric or the like whichsupports treatment the upper parts of these stringers are intended a toproject above the water surface, it is possible to adjust the positionof the patients body to be at different distances from the watersurface. Consequently, if the seat strap is suspended on hooks which areplaced close to the bottom of the bath,'the patient will be seated atsuch a low level underneath the water surface that it is possible, forexample, to treat his chest. He may, however, also sit in such aposition that, for example, a back treatment may be carried out on him.If the seat strap is suspended on higher hooks, the patients body willlie at a lower distance from the water surface and in a positionrequired, for example, for a treatment of his lower extremities.

By these different heights adjustments of the seat it is possible to usethe chair for treating patients any size and also children. The patientmay support himself during the treatment .by holding on to a pair ofhandles which are provided at the upper parts of the stringers of thechair and preferably consist of round rods or pipes extending parallelto the stringers. The stringers on each side of the chair extend at anangle to each other facing toward the bottom. This has the advantagethat, when an adjustable head rest is to be used, the distance be tweenthe surface of the headsupported by the head and hold himself on thehandles.

tion; The head rest itself consists of pipes which are telescopingwithin each other and are adjustable relative to each other to differentlengths so that the distance from the rotary axis may at anytime beadjusted in accordance with the length of the patients body.

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present accompanyingdrawings, in-which- Fig. ,1 illustrates a perspective side view of thenew chair; while Fig. 2 illustrates a perspective front view thereof.

Referring to the drawings, the frame of the new chair consists of twolateral members 1 and 2 made of pipes which are bent into the shape oftwo equal-sided triangles. The two upright arms of each lateral framemember are connected to each other by crossbars 3 and 4, respectively,which extend parallel to the lower arm of the triangle and, in turn, areconnected to each other by crossbars 5 and 6. Such framework gives thechair very great solidity. Crossbars 3 and 4 are forwardly extended toform stair supports 7 on which boards or the like 8 are mounted to forma stair step which is additionally supported by a central rod 9 which issubstantially vertical.

Between crossbars 3 and 4 and the upper apex 10 and 11 of each triangle1 and 2, stringers 12 and 13 are mounted, the upper parts 14 and 15 ofwhich are bent at an inclined angle in the direction toward stair step8.

These angular parts 14 and 15 carry the two handle bars 16 and 17,respectively, and also a plurality of hooks 18 and 19 at certain spacedintervals into which seat strap may be engaged and thus be adjusted todifferent evels.

The lower ends of stringers 12 and 13 serve as bearings of a shaft 21 onwhich two pipes 22 and 23 are secured in which pipes 24 and 25 areslidably mounted which may be secured at any desired level by means ofsetscrews 26 and 27, respectively. At their upper end, pipes 24 and 25are connected to each other by a yoke 28 which carries a strap 29forming the head rest. Shaft 21 carries at one end a lever 30 which maybe secured in different positions of angular adjustment by meansof a pin33 which may be inserted in different bores 32 in a curved bar 31 whichis secured at opposite ends on stringer 12 and the rear arm of member 1.Thus, the head rest 29 may be adjusted to any desired position. 'Theupper parts 14 and 15 of stringers 12 and 13, respectively, arepreferably bent at such an angle relative to v 7 Since the weight of hisbody will be practically nullified by the water, he will have nodifficu-lty in holding himself easily in .this 'posithe lower partsthereof that, when the head rest is adjusted to its normal positionasillustrated in Fig. 1, parts 14 and 15 will be disposed substantiallywithin an arc of a circle about a center formed by the head rest. ITherefore, regardless-of whether the seat strap 20 is adjusted to ahigher or lower position, the head rest when once adjusted will remainin the same position.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto thepreferred embodiment there of, I wish to have it understood thatit is nine Way limited to' the details of such embodiment, but iscapableof numerous modifications Within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus 'fully disclosed my invention, What I claim is:

1. A chair for hydrotherapeutic treatments, compris ing'a frameincluding a pair oftubular'side members, each forming a'substantiallyequal-sided triangle and means for securing said triangular membersinspaced relationshipito each 'other,"a"pairi of lateral stringersmounted on said frame,"a seat for'supporting'thebodyof a patientsubstantially'at the level of hisbuttocks, said seatcomprisingfafiexible'strap, meanson said stringers foradjust-ably'securing said strapdhe'reonat different-- levels, and astair step mounted on said triangular members at'the front side of said:chair and disposed at a level intermediate the levels of 'the base andapex of saidtriangular members; I

2. A chair for 'hydrotherapeutic' treatments, comprise ing a frame," apair oflateral stringersrnounted on said frame, a seat for supportingthebody' of "aQa-ti'ent substantiallyat' the level of his buttocks,"saidseat comprising a flexible strap, means on said stringers forad-'justably securing said seat strap'thereon at differentlevels,

a head'rest,"means connectingbsaid head rest to said frame includingmeans for pivoting said 'head'resttodiff ferent angular positions"relative to said frame and'for securing said head rest in any'ofsaidangular positions,

at the lever-(isms buttocks, saidseat' comprising a flexible strap,means on said stringers for adjust-ably securing said seat strap thereonat difier'e'nt levels, a head rest, means connecting said head: resttosaid 'frame'including means for pivotingrsaid head rest to differentangular positions relative "to said frame'and for securing said head'rest in any of said angular positions, said connecting means includingat least one pair of tubular members telescopically slidable Within eachother to vary the distance between said head rest and the pivotal axisof said connecting'me'ans on said frame,- andmeans 'for securing saidmembers to each otherin any one of-various extended positions.

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